Uttarkhand Goes To BJP: “Long Live Democracy,” Modi Tells Congress

Uttarakhand seems to have gone ahead with its cyclic change of power, with the voters giving an unprecedented mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this time around.

According to the results declared on Saturday, the BJP won 57 seats in the 70-member assembly, garnering a considerable 46.5 per cent of votes.

The Congress, which was ruling in the state, got only 11 seats, though in terms of percentage, it got a respectable 33.5 per cent of votes, which is not far below its previous percentage of 33.79 per cent. But the percentage of votes did not translate into seats for the Congress.

While the Congress' infighting can be blamed to some extent for the party's poor showing, the Modi wave seemed to have swept the hilly state like never before

Counting of votes in the 5 states-Manipur, Punjab, UP, Uttarakhand and Goa begins.

Counting of votes for the high-stakes assembly elections in Uttarakhand will take place on Saturday morning, with trends for winners and losers expected to be clear as early as 11 am.

Election Commission officials said the counting of votes for the hilly state will commence at 8 am, across 15 centres in Uttarakhand, and will be wrapped up late in the evening.

According to Election Commission guidelines, half an hour after the postal ballots are counted, the process of counting of EVM votes will begin.

The 'ballot unit' will be switched on in the presence of senior poll officials.

Once the results are declared, names of the winning candidates will find mention in the Election Commission’s gazette.

Stakes are high for both the ruling Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the crucial 70 seat assembly polls. 68% voter turnout was recorded in the state which went to polls on 15 February on the back of a bitter political crisis in 2016.

The Congress is, of course, hoping to emulate its performance from 2012, and is resting its hopes on the voters rejecting the BJP over the note ban drama. On the other hand, the BJP is hoping that it can reap the benefits of the political crisis that gripped the state in 2016. Uttarakhand saw a major revolt against Chief Minister Harish Rawat by his party MLAs, resulting in nearly two months of President’s rule.